Is There Such A Thing As An "easy Crab"?

[Chad]

Well...that was a good try, but not the crab. It's closer in look to the Madagascan Land Crab but with a differently shaped carapace. The hunt continues.

I do agree about keeping crabs in captivity. I actually started with crabs, meaning that was the first animal I kept and I had a great little tank for them. When I started keeping fish I wanted to keep the crabs with them and made the very mistake you talk about...too much water, not enough land. Now I only keep marine crabs because that's not an issue with them so I get to have my beloved little crabies and they don't crawl away and die in the corner!

 

[creeker]

Coconut Crab?

He could live in your bathtub....

LOL! When I was wholesaling fish, one of the stores I called upon actually had one of these for sale! It was bigger than most dogs you see today!

 

[Chad]

I would buy that but it would likely get away as they can climb over anything and get out of just about any enclosure. Still...very cool creature.

 

[grayshark1956]

We think we want to set up a crab tank. I realise some need land and water, but I am not sure how common this is. If there are several that need this, then I think we would be leaning towards one of these. We like the idea of setting something like that up. If it is just the red claw crab, then I think this will be the one we get.

Of those type (or just the one), are they fairly resilient to learners? We are willing to read up and don't take bad advice from the LFS, but I am doing this for my son and I don't really want to kill it on him. (Not that I would want to kill them anyway, of course.)

Are there any other fresh water, or perhaps brackish (if this isn't terribly difficult because I have never done brackish) crabs that can be recommended for a beginner, land dependent or not?

ETA This was badly written. I do realise the red claws are brackish, but for some reason (perhaps I am being naive), I feel that because it isn't an entire tank full of water, it wouldn't be so difficult to manage.

I've had hermit crabs for years and love them! They are so easy to care for: mine are in an aquarium with screened lid and I put saran wrap over 1/2 of the top as they love it warm and humid. Mine have a cave made of reptile wood, love sand and I give them eco earth substrate that can be dampened for burrowing. They're not picky eaters, mine get people food of fruits, veggies, boiled chicken, grains, peanut butter, popcorn, lettuce, crab food. They're slow moving, easy to catch and hold.They also don't have to be cleaned as often as all the other pets I've owned. I have 4, each the size of a ping pong ball. All of them get along great. You also don't need a filter or heater because they are not aquatic like fish. Mine have a shallow large container of spring water (they can't have water with chlorine) and they're in it alot.

I had red claw crabs and they were fine in my fish tank. They had a cave with land and did not bother the fish even. I was on another forum at the time and everyone said to put them in a brackish tank., I did and they died. I read all about salt and did not put in too much. Store advised aquarium salt and everyone else said sea salt or marine salt or a mix. I tried that and they died after having a real nice home. Between the two, I like hermit crabs much, much more even though the red crabs were entertaining. Hope this helps.

Forgot to add: the brackish water had to be checked often and maintained. The hermits don't require this, plus they did not need to be cleaned as often as fish tank.

 

[TheShrimpGirl]

I have kept many crabs over the years. Vampire crabs, fiddlers, Hermit crabs, and Halloween Moon Crabs.

Fiddlers are the ones I had the best luck with that were a true crab. They really enjoy their water and they love climbing all over whatever you put in the tank for them. They will eat whatever you put in for them.

They require 80% humidity and a heated tank in order to thrive. 2-3" substrate, sand is best, that is moist will be best.

Avoid Moon crabs as they will need a 24" deep substrate over time and they grow far too fast for a smaller tank. They are also very agressive and will not hesitate to pinch you with those big pinchers when they are 10" crabs.